The full core sound library, pre-installed and ready to go.
Includes free trackable shipping.
TOTAL:
64-bit Windows 7 or newer, 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM or more recommended). macOS 10.9 or higher, 64-bit Intel-based Mac with 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM or more recommended).
64-bit host (with support for VST, AU or AAX). Standalone is included.
SOFTWARE: Approx. 320 MB download + installation space.
SOUND LIBRARY: Basic install: Approx. 41 GB download and an additional 41 GB for the installation process. Complete install: Approx. 236 GB download and an additional 55 GB for the installation process.
In addition to a massive library of raw sound material, Superior Drummer 3 introduces a unique design*, a streamlined workflow and countless features for powerful drum production in your computer. With Superior Drummer 3, you have control and creative power beyond the imaginable. Welcome to the future.
Superior Drummer 3 introduction video.
These playlists include a selection of full production and preset demos featuring different kits from the Superior Drummer 3 core library. Please find more drum demos in the “Drums” section and preset demos in the “Mixer” section.
Welcome to an an all-encompassing library for near infinite percussive creation,
immersive sound design, scoring and composition.
Check out the Superior Drummer 3 Orchestral Edition featuring the full Superior Drummer 3 software and core library as well the the Orchestral Percussion SDX.
TAKE ME THEREThe idea with Superior Drummer 3 is to let you step into a virtual studio with the best possible raw material and mix options at your disposal to create drum sounds in an environment where only your imagination sets the limits. Combining the creative power of the sounds, the ambiences and the extensive set of features, Superior Drummer 3 is more than just a drum sampler – it’s a bottomless well of creativity. It bridges the gap between acoustic and electronic and lets you venture off into completely new sonic landscapes. This is the definitive tool for percussive sound design.
The Superior Drummer 3 core sound library was recorded by award-winning engineer George Massenburg at probably the world’s most quiet and ideal location for sampling, the Galaxy Studios in Belgium. The library boasts in excess of 230 GB of raw sound material captured in extreme detail. In addition to close microphones and several ambience positions, the Superior Drummer 3 setup also includes eleven room microphones set up in a surround configuration, for use in anything from stereo to 5.1, 9.1 and all the way up to 11.1 systems. In combination with the large selection of extra instruments added for stacking and sound design purposes, the sounds of Superior Drummer 3 give you an incomparable palette of options to craft drum tones beyond your wildest imagination.
Meet the team and get a glimpse of what happened behind the scenes during the recording sessions.
The Superior Drummer 3 core sound library was recorded at Galaxy Studios in Belgium. With its 330 square meter room and eight meter ceiling height, it was the ideal location for capturing immersive audio of the utmost quality. In addition, the entire studio complex is built on springs to ensure that the outside interference is literally nonexistent. In fact, with only 14 dBA of environmental noise, the main hall at Galaxy Studio is the most quiet recording space of this size in the world.
Perfect acoustics, balanced reverberation and second-to-none recording technology. Superior Drummer 3 called for a superior studio. We’d dare to say that this is the most nuanced and candidly captured sample library on the market.
Let Tom Van Achte take you on a tour through the Galaxy complex.
Toontrack’s Mattias Eklund and engineer George Massenburg hard at work in the “API Room”.
Layers of technology. George and team are carefully placing each microphone to capture the immense ambience of the 330 square meter Galaxy room.
Each room is a standalone bunker, mounted on helical springs. The insolation between each bunker is a staggering 100.7 dB.
When sampling drums in surround and height, you need – height. The Galaxy hall with its eight meters from floor to ceiling was the perfect choice.
The studio took seven years to complete and a total of 318,000 man hours were spent to achieve the full construction of the facility.
In this video, George takes you through his Superior Drummer 3 microphone positioning philosophy.
All third party brands, trademarks or registered trademarks are the sole properties of their respective owners.
George Massenburg’s contribution to the world of audio technology is hard to emphasize in words. Aside from having produced, mixed or engineered in excess of four hundred records, received almost any industry award thinkable, been inducted into the Technology Hall of Fame and received an honorary Doctorate of Music at the esteemed Berklee College, he is the inventor of an industry staple: the parametric equalizer. His attention to detail, accuracy and quality is second to none.
Superior Drummer 3 called for a superior engineer. These are his drum sounds – captured with layers of technology and a lifetime of experience to back it up.
Over the past four decades, George Massenburg has been involved in over four hundred records. His work includes milestone albums by Earth, Wind & Fire, Linda Ronstadt, Natasha Bedingfield, Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, the Dixie Chicks and many, many more. George’s work has gained him world wide recognition and four Grammy Awards, including the Grammy for Technical Achievement in 1998, at the time making him one of only seventeen individuals to ever receive this honor. In addition to numerous Mix Magazine TEC Awards, in 1988 he also won the Academy of Country Music Record of the Year Award for his production on the album “Trio” featuring Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Further, George has designed, built and managed several recording studios as well as contributed to the acoustical and architectural design of many other studios, including George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound. In 1982, he founded George Massenburg Labs, an audio electronics company that has released an extensive range of innovative recording technologies, all based on his original designs.
Regularly published in professional journals and trade magazines world wide, George Massenburg received the Gold Medal from the Audio Engineering Society in 2008.
In 2013, he was awarded a patent #8,510,361 in the US (as well as other countries) for a variable exponent averaging detector and dynamic range controller. He is also a member of the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress and an advisor to the Committee for Library Information Resources. George serves as the Chief Technical Officer of META (the Music Engineering Technical Alliance), a strategic union of music producers and engineers dedicated to the highest standards of audio and delivery of music.
George has also been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music by Boston’s esteemed Berklee College of Music. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Sound Recording at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and a Visiting Lecturer at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston and Valencia, Spain as well as the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN.
Inventing the Parametric equalizer (1972)
Engineering ”Night Passage” by Weather Report (1980)
Receiving a “Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical” Grammy Award for “Cry Like a Rainstorm – Howl Like the Wind” by Linda Ronstadt (1989)
If we may say so, engineering the Superior Drummer 3 core sound library.
Superior Drummer implements several groundbreaking features for working with any aspect of your drum MIDI content – right inside the program. The idea is that regardless of what you are attempting to accomplish, you should never have to leave the framework of Superior Drummer 3. From quickly getting a custom beat going to laying out entire songs or diving deep into fine-tuning timing and velocity detail, Superior Drummer 3 has got you covered.
Add to this the comprehensive Superior Drummer 3 MIDI library, covering a wide range of styles, and you have a wealth of inspiration to use to craft your custom drum tracks from.The mixer introduces 35 low-footprint insert effects, making each channel strip a virtual sound processing powerhouse. Route, bus, send, saturate, blend and mix – the creative options are endless.
Think of Superior Drummer 3 like stepping into the control of a world-class studio and taking a seat at the mixing console. Outside the glass windows, in the massive hall, there’s a wide array of drums of all sizes, makes and models, all set up and ready for you to hone to fit your mixes.
With Superior Drummer 3, you are in control. Only your imagination sets the limits.
The Tracker introduces the arguably most efficient and accurate drum audio to MIDI conversion software on the market. Built on a highly advanced instrument recognition neural network, the Tracker detects hits with an unequalled accuracy and speed.
With the seamless integration with Superior Drummer 3, replacing or augmenting drums has never been more powerful than now. Simply drop your drum audio material in Tracker, let it quickly analyze your content and in no time, you’ll be able to preview the MIDI based on your original tracks. Start blending, augmenting, replacing and creating!
By combining smart software features with extreme sample detail and nuance, Superior Drummer 3 bridges the gap between the “e” and the drums, making your electronic kit every bit as “real” and acoustic as it can be.
Superior Drummer 3 was designed with you in mind, the demanding e-drummer. Get started playing instantly with one of the the new e-drum presets, or customize the way the software responds to your playing with new, easy-to-use controls on the dedicated e-drum settings tab.
The e-drum settings tab is used to transform incoming MIDI to the standard of any loaded sound library without affecting the playback of your MIDI files. This makes it easy to combine your own playing with any MIDI files available from Toontrack. It also offers quick access to the MIDI controls most frequently used, like hi-hat pedal and snare CC response. Controls and articulations for the mapping of custom kits and pads with multiple zones and positional sensitivity are available as well.
All this in combination with optimized velocity response, humanization and up to 25 velocity layers per instrument in the Superior Drummer 3 core library will make your playing more expressive and well-rounded than ever!
New to the world of Superior Drummer or already in the family?
Find your path below.
Due to the size of the library and to ensure that each customer freely can decide in what capacity he or she wants to utilize the source material, the product is configured in six (6) convenient download packages. Start by installing the software and then add each package in sequence as you go.
Software
The Superior Drummer 3 software. No sounds.
Approx. download size: 230 MB.
Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 need to be installed in sequence. However, as soon as you have installed part 1, you can jump straight to installing the Additional Bleed part.
Basic Sound Library
All instruments, all tools and all articulations in direct microphones as well as the OH Dyn and Amb Ribbon channels. Bleed available in Snare Bottom, OH Dyn and Amb Ribbon channels.
Approx. download size: 40 GB.
Room mics
The rest of the room microphone channels (OH Cond, Amb Near and Amb Mid).
Approx. download size: 46 GB.
Surround Setup
Surround. Five channel microphone setup to achieve 5-channel surround.
Approx. download size: 43 GB.
Height Surround
Height and width. Six channel microphone setup to achieve 11-channel surround (in combination with the “Surround 1” content).
Approx. download size: 52 GB.
Additional Bleed
All remaining instrument bleed, meaning the sound picked up by microphones other than the one(s) directly intended for a specific instrument or ambience.
Approx. download size: 54 GB.
Note: All surround channels can be used in any stereo system as additional ambience microphones.
The full core sound library pre-installed on a 256 GB solid-state drive (SSD). This is a quality drive with no moving mechanical components, meaning it’s more resistent to physical shock, has lower access time and less latency than a traditional hard drive. This drive connects with USB 3.0.
Note: There is no software on this drive, only sounds.
A Superior Drummer 3 license is required.
SUPERIOR DRUMMER 2SD2 |
SUPERIOR DRUMMER 3SD3 |
EZDRUMMER 2EZD2 |
|
Core library size |
approx. 19 GB |
approx. 235 GB |
approx. 4 GB |
Drum set brands |
1 |
6 |
4 |
Kit configurations |
6 |
14 |
5 |
Ready for surround playback |
|||
Audio to MIDI conversion (Tracker) |
|||
Kicks |
2 |
16 |
8 |
Snares |
7 |
25 |
8 |
Cymbals |
32 |
32 |
13 |
Electronic sounds |
(approx. 350) |
||
Mixer effects |
5 |
35 |
depending on preset |
Mixer channels |
18 |
22 |
depending on preset, max. 15 |
Mixer/channel presets |
19 |
> 67 |
29 |
Instrument bleed |
|||
Internal mixer busses |
16 |
16 |
|
Internal stereo outputs |
16 |
16 |
16 |
Humanize functionality |
|||
Tune drumheads and cymbals |
pitch-control |
||
Reverse sample playback |
|||
Pitch envelope control |
|||
Audio bounce in 16 and 24 bit |
|||
Percussion sounds |
|||
Percussion MIDI grooves |
|||
Future hit MIDI grooves |
|||
Import your own samples |
|||
MIDI grid editor |
|||
Quantize MIDI grooves |
|||
Swing Quantize MIDI grooves |
|||
Advanced MIDI Editing (nudge, random, ect) |
|||
Edit Play Style |
|||
Tap2Find |
|||
Song Creator |
|||
Song Track |
|||
Tempo & time signature change on Song Track |
|||
Multiple song track versions |
|||
Scalable interface |
|||
Detachable windows/tabs |
|||
Macro controls |
|||
MIDI learn |
|||
Support for keyboard shortcuts |
|||
Core MIDI library size |
approx. 1513 files |
approx. 1640 files |
approx. 940 files |
MIDI categorized in songparts |
|||
Instrument search browser with filters |
|||
MIDI search browser with filters |
|||
Custom graphics for all drums |
|||
Show webshop MIDI |
|||
Customizable mixer layout |
|||
Combine drums from all Installed Toontrack sound libraries (SDX & EZX) |
Only EZX |
||
Create Drum Stacks |
|||
Advanced e-drum features |
|||
Edit hi-hat pedal response/openness |
|||
Edit ‘Snare Zone Control’ |
|||
E-drum mapping presets for most brands |
|||
Enable MIDI out |
|||
Simplified microphone routing |
|||
Advanced metronome settings |
Here’s an overview of videos covering anything from behind the scenes material to tutorials and inspirational tips and tricks. Enjoy!
Superior Drummer 3 a complete drum production studio.
In this video, we take a deeper look at the Drums tab in Superior Drummer 3.
In this video, we take a deeper look at the Grooves tab in Superior Drummer 3.
In this video, we take a deeper look at the Mixer tab in Superior Drummer 3.
In this video, we take a deeper look at the Tracker tab in Superior Drummer 3.
Learn more about the benefits and common uses for the Envelope and Offset property box.
Learn more about what you can do within the Reverse property box.
How to use the Velocity Curve property box with internal MIDI.
Learn all about what you can do within the Level property box.
Learn about the advanced tuning algorithm and what you can do within the Tuning property box.
Superior Drummer 3 comes with ten (10) built-in dynamic tools including six (6) dedicated compressors/limiters.
An example of the many expressive articulations recorded for the snare drums in the Superior Drummer 3 core sound library.
This video demonstrates the benefits of using the Velocity Curve property box with internal MIDI inside of Superior Drummer 3.
The benefits and common uses for the Envelope and Offset property box, two of the many sound shaping tools available in Superior Drummer 3.
Join engineer George Massenburg and team and get a glimpse of what happened behind the scenes during the sessions
In this video, Tom from Galaxy Studios in Belgium walks you through the facilities.
Superior Drummer 3: Microphone walkthrough with George Massenburg.
We caught up with Andy Sneap during his Superior Drummer 3 preset session.
Meet Mark Lewis, one of the collaborators behind the wide range of presets in Superior Drummer 3.
A quick comment from Bob Rock on the presets he designed for Superior Drummer 3.
Learn how to stack additional acoustic kicks and snares along with a kick/snare from the collection of electronic drum sounds.
Learn how to make tuning adjustments and how to work with the new tuning algorithm.
Learn how to work with the Bus Sends and various other sound shaping tools in the available in the Mixer!
Learn how to use the Macro Controls to adjust multiple parameters at once using the input and output settings of a compressor on a room channel.
In this video, we take a closer look at importing samples and how to create hybrid kits in Superior Drummer 3.
Learn how to use the new search functions and filters in the Grooves window to quickly find any groove within your MIDI libraries.
Learn more about the Tap2Find and Edit Play Style functions from the perspective of a song writer/producer.
The all-new Grid Editor allows you to edit your MIDI in any way you want. Learn more about the key features, including the articulation drop downs and the variety of ways you can manipulate velocity.
Learn how to use a single MIDI groove to generate entire song structures using the Song Creator. Also, learn more about saving your own templates and how to use them for other groove ideas later.
Learn how to quickly export your MIDI files via drag and drop and how you can bounce high quality audio files in a variety of ways.
In this video, Mike shows you how easy it is to get a groove going in Superior Drummer 3.
Short and to-the-point videos that all answer the simple question of “how to” accomplish a certain idea or sound by using creative ways of working with Superior Drummer 3.
How to create builds and risers in a song.
How to create ambient builds.
How to create hi-hat and snare FX.
How to create cymbal swells.
How to get a bigger drum sound by using a single compressor on the main output of Superior Drummer 3.
How to use distortion on a Reverb Send to produce a more aggressive and ambient drum sound.
How to create a parallel compression channel and make it sound massive.
How to create a Reverb Bus channel and use the Creative Filter to adjust the frequencies being altered by the reverb effect.
How to create your own “fake” ambient channel by emulating the sound of an ambient room.
How to take the ambience channels from another expansion library and use it with the core library of Superior Drummer 3.
How to enhance your kick drum sound using the Tape Simulator along with the Compressor and Transient effects.
How to apply tape distortion to your drum mix while simultaneously adjusting the tape drive output using the Macro Controls.
How to use the Tape Simulator as an EQ tool for adjusting low and high frequencies within your drum mix.
How to enhance your drum mix by using the Tape Simulator effect on individual instrument channels and/or the drum bus.
How to create a massive sounding ’80s style drum mix.
How to use the Plate Reverb and 1981 Classic Reverb effects to create an ’80s style drum reverb.
How to use the Comp670 compressor to make independent compression adjustments to the center/side stereo field information or the Left/Right channels.
How to create a big, bombastic drum mix using the Comp76 compressor along with the parallel mix knob.
How to make quick analog style adjustments to your drum mix using the EQ84.
How to convert both a multi and stereo drum track to MIDI using Tracker.
Recreating the “Black Album” drum sound with Superior Drummer 3.
Recreating the classic “When the Levee Breaks” drum sound with Superior Drummer 3.
How to make a dry drum mix with Superior Drummer 3.
How to program a hi-hat from scratch in Superior Drummer 3.
Getting creative with the overheads.
Using velocity pads.
Tame resonant drums.
Tame ambience channels.
Show/hide mixer channels.
Short hi-hat articulations.
Quick parallel compression.
Multi-channel selections.
Multi-instrument selection.
Mouse scroll wheel settings.
Customizing parameter boxes.
Compression default settings.
Clean part kit presets.
Change snare articulation in Edit Play Style.
Want to learn the ins and outs of Superior Drummer 3? Check out this interactive user manual.
USER MANUALSUPERIOR DRUMMER® is a registered trademark owned by Toontrack Music AB in the United States (US Registration Number: 3171463), Canada (Registration no. TMA979813), United Kingdom (International Registration no. 1301338), Sweden (no. 530797) and other countries.
The Superior Drummer 3 user interface is a registered design owned by Toontrack Music AB in the European Union (RCD No.: 004171270-0001 –004171270-0012.) and the United States (D875125, D875772 and D875128)
All product names, not owned by Toontrack, that are mentioned on this website are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Toontrack. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were sampled for Toontrack sound library development. For a list of current owners of each of these trademarks click here.
64-bit Windows 7 or newer, 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM or more recommended). macOS 10.9 or higher, 64-bit Intel-based Mac with 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM or more recommended).
64-bit host (with support for VST, AU or AAX). Standalone is included.
SOFTWARE: Approx. 320 MB download + installation space.
SOUND LIBRARY: Basic install: Approx. 41 GB download and an additional 41 GB for the installation process. Complete install: Approx. 236 GB download and an additional 55 GB for the installation process.
